IGO Anti-Boycott Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3016) to amend the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to apply the provisions of that Act to international governmental organizations, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3016, the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, a bill I introduced with my colleague and great friend from New Jersey, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, this past spring.

After Hamas' October 7 massacre of over 1,200 innocent people in Israel, including Americans, we need to do everything we can to stand with our friend and ally.

In the south, Israel is fighting a war to dismantle Hamas, whose leader said that October 7 was just a rehearsal. In the north, Israel is defending itself from missiles and rockets from Iran's deadly proxy Hezbollah.

However, there are many in the world who want to fault Israel, blame Israel, and delegitimize Israel for doing what is necessary to protect its citizens and its sovereignty.

One of the most egregious bastions of anti-Israel bias and bigotry is the United Nations. We are deeply concerned that the U.N. could weaponize its institutions against Israel.

Years ago, the U.N. Human Rights Council authorized the creation of a database of companies doing business beyond Israel's 1949 armistice lines. The implications of this were clear: Create a list of companies and then boycott them. That list is now published and updated by the United Nations.

Boycotts such as these are contrary to American values and foreign policy. It is critical that we protect U.S. companies from being coerced into providing information that would facilitate these boycotts.

For over 40 years, it has been illegal for U.S. companies to cooperate with foreign boycotts that the United States is not participating in. The reason is because foreign countries should not be able to use U.S. companies to undermine U.S. foreign policy. These laws were passed in response to the Arab League's boycott of Israel.

Now, the good news is that today, many fewer countries in the Arab League are adhering to the boycott of Israel. In fact, some of them have normalized relations with Israel, opening trade as well as diplomatic ties.

We are faced with the potential that U.S. companies might be pressured to cooperate with this U.N. list and subsequent boycott of Israel. If that were to happen, the U.N. would be using U.S. companies to undermine U.S. foreign policy. That is simply unacceptable.

This bill adds four words, ``or international governmental organizations,'' to existing anti-boycott law to include organizations like the U.N.

It is my sincere hope that the U.N. will not foster such a boycott against Israel as Israel is responding to the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

This bill is especially necessary with the constant anti-Israel bias emanating from the U.N. Just recently, we confirmed that UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, has deep ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli intelligence recently released reports that many UNRWA workers actually worked as Hamas operatives and assisted in the October 7 attacks. It is absolutely disgusting that employees of a U.N. agency had a role in this attack. We will see now what the U.N. does in response to these allegations.

We cannot stand idly by while our contributions to UNRWA potentially aid and abet terrorists. Our support must only go to organizations that uplift humanity, not those who undermine peace and security.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill today so that we can take a stand against the U.N. and other IGOs and the anti-Israel bias present at UNHRC and UNRWA. This bill is just a start. The American people stand with Israel.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, to my colleague from Texas, we accepted one of his amendments during the markup to address some of his accountability concerns.

Let's be clear. This is not an anti-First Amendment bill. This bill adds four words to existing law. It does absolutely nothing unprecedented. It only expands coverage of existing protections to include IGOs. The bill is not discriminatory against proponents of the BDS movement, rather it prevents discriminatory actions against Israel and other countries friendly to the United States so as not to undermine U.S. foreign policy.

IGOs, like the United Nations, continue to impose one-sided and biased policies against the State of Israel. Madam Speaker, you can't wait until after the fact to protect Israel and the Jewish people, as we saw on October 7.

While the E.U. doesn't maintain a similar blacklist, there have been E.U.-based efforts to create one and further other BDS initiatives at the E.U. For example, just last year in February of 2022, pro-BDS activists launched a campaign to call on the E.U. Commission to propose a new law to stop trade with settlements.

Luckily, the campaign didn't reach the number of signatures it needed to be brought before the E.U. Commission.

Now, let's be clear. The BDS movement is anti-Semitic. The BDS is one tactic in a long history of campaigns and efforts to delegitimize and isolate the State of Israel. It also applies a double standard to Israel. The BDS campaign does not support constructive measures to build Israeli-Palestinian engagement, nor does it promote peace negotiations or a mutually negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Rather, BDS presents a biased and simplistic approach to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict positioning this dispute over territorial and nationalist claims as the fault of only one party, the State of Israel, while ignoring other actors and dynamics such as Palestinian-shared responsibility for the continuation of the conflict.

BDS advocates for self-determination for Palestinians while denying to Jews that same right.

So many of our colleagues who have, for instance, called for cease- fires say nothing about Hamas' barbaric, horrific, and brutal attacks on October 7. The duplicity when I hear some of my colleagues talk about this issue is pathetic.

The BDS movement uses divisive and inaccurate terms like ``apartheid,'' ``genocide,'' ``settler colonialists,'' and ``supremacists'' to refer to aspects of Israeli action or policy they criticize. This language serves to demonize the Jewish State and those who support its very existence. So the intent here is to expand existing law to include IGOs. Four words are added to the existing law. That is all this bill does.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my Democratic co-lead, Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who is the co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, and all of our bipartisan cosponsors for working with me on this important bill to update our anti-boycott laws and to respond to potential threats facing the United States and our ally, Israel. We must stand with our ally Israel and not allow rampant, institutionalized anti-Israel bias and bigotry at the United Nations to delegitimize the State of Israel.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of our Members to vote in favor of H.R. 3016, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H.R. 3016, the IGO Anti-Boycott Act.

I strongly support legislative efforts to combat international boycotts that target U.S. companies engaged in business activities in countries friendly to the United States, including Israel. That is why I support H.R. 3016, bipartisan legislation introduced by my friend, Representative Mike Lawler, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and by my great friend, Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

This legislation reinforces existing anti-boycott laws and U.S. policies to combat those international boycotts. I will continue to support ways to protect U.S. businesses from being pressured into complying with unsanctioned foreign boycotts against Israel.

It is already U.S. policy, per the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018, which H.R. 3016 would amend, to oppose restrictive trade practices and boycotts imposed by any foreign countries or entities against Americans and countries friendly to the United States, and which discourages or prohibits U.S. companies from taking actions to support unsanctioned foreign boycotts.

There are, of course, limitations to what we can do. The United States cannot unilaterally stop other countries from adopting policies that we do not agree with, nor could other countries prevent the United States from adopting policies they do not agree with.

However, through bodies like the U.N., as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the United States is able to use its voice and veto to combat policies, including biased and harmful boycott, divestment, and sanctions, or BDS, campaigns against our partners and allies like Israel.

Furthermore, policies adopted by international bodies do not bind U.S. citizens. Americans are only bound by American law. An act of Congress is required for international law to become our law. No intergovernmental organization will ever supersede U.S. law or sovereignty.

From the Arab League boycott to the global BDS campaign against Israel, Congress has repeatedly stood united in a bipartisan way against this hateful campaign to isolate, single out, and economically punish the State of Israel. No American citizen or company should be coerced into participating in an unsanctioned boycott against Israel or any other partner or ally of the United States. That is why I support this bill to update the 2018 Anti-Boycott Act.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), who is the co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, I support this bill and the underlying provision of law it seeks to amend which works to protect U.S. businesses from being targeted by foreign boycotts, particularly against nations friendly to the United States like Israel.

Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting H.R. 3016, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Manning for her leadership on this and so many important issues for our country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in passing the IGO Anti-Boycott Act. I am particularly honored to have helped introduce this bipartisan legislation with my very good friend and fellow Problem Solvers Caucus member Mike Lawler from New

York. I am grateful for his leadership as well and the words he has just spoken.

On October 7, the world watched Hamas terrorists invade Israel and brutally kidnap, torture, rape, burn alive, and murder innocent babies, children, women, men, and the elderly, including dozens of Americans. Americans remain hostage to this day.

This unprovoked war has underscored why I will always stand with Israel and support our key democratic ally's right to defend herself from those who seek her destruction.

This bipartisan legislation is a key step to counter anti-Israel bias and anti-Semitic BDS movements strung along by enemies of our Nation. As my colleagues have said, the BDS movement is anti-Semitic. We must move quickly to stop international governmental organizations from unfairly and unjustly alienating Israel. It is unacceptable.

Speaking, as my colleague did, about the United Nations and UNRWA, in particular, and what has come out even in the last days about UNRWA-- which is, again, part of the United Nations playing host to a Hamas data center--we know that a significant number of Hamas fighters are employees at UNWRA. I just want people to understand that funding from the United States of America should not be supporting any terrorist fighters like those in Hamas. It is totally unacceptable, and that is not where dollars from the United States should be going.

Right now, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric has spread across the country and the world. According to the ADL, between October 7 and January 7, there were more than 1,300 instances of anti-Semitic acts and expressions of support for terrorism against the State of Israel.

Today, we have a chance to stand up for our ally, Israel, and to stand up against anti-Semitism and all of the disinformation which continues to spread around the world on sources like TikTok.

We know that on TikTok, which is supported by the Chinese Government, the CCP is continuing to spread disinformation. Disinformation is also coming out from many of these organizations. We must stand up against it.

This legislation does nothing to violate the First Amendment. In fact, the importance of being able to stand strong with the First Amendment is what allows legislation like this to make it to the floor in Congress. Leadership from Mr. Lawler and others and the excellent work here of Ms. Manning is the kind of leadership that is critical.

So, Madam Speaker, I, once again, urge my colleagues to vote for and help pass the Anti-Boycott Act. We must stand strong up against Hamas.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my good friend Mr. Lawler for authoring the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, which amends the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to apply its provisions also to international governmental organizations.

When this bill becomes law, it will prevent U.S. companies from supporting boycotts of U.S. allies if those boycotts are promoted or imposed by intergovernmental organizations.

What is at issue here are boycotts of Israel organized by the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, has enlisted the United Nations and European Union into its attempt to blacklist Israel--really to make Israel into a pariah state.

I thank Mr. Lawler as this bill will be a very effective tool in the global fight against antisemitism.

As to the UN's blacklist, meant to be an authoritative guide to anti- Israel boycotters, it lists companies operating inside disputed territories--but the UN provides no similar list for any other disputed territory in the world. This is a clear double standard against Israel--it fails Natan Sharansky's ``3Ds'' test according to which we can see the antisemitism of actions toward Israel that apply a double standard against Israel, seek to delegitimize it, or demonize it.

In the last 9 months I have chaired or co-chaired three hearings on the United Nations and its pervasive antisemitism. We have heard the testimony and seen the documentation. Make no mistake, antisemitic bigotry is at the root of the UN's hostility to Israel, which is ugly, evil, and manifests in almost every UN entity.

The United Nations is unquestionably the world's foremost legitimizer of antisemitism, including in its most virulent and violent forms. The monstrous and genocidal atrocities we have seen pouring out of Gaza since October 7 are antisemitic hate crimes, the logical consequence of the unbridled antisemitism fomented and enabled by the United Nations.

Madam Speaker, this piece of legislation is a bad idea.

The right to participate in a boycott is an expression of free speech and free association that has been enshrined in American law since our Nation's founding. This bill would allow the President, any President, to compel the speech of Americans. That is unconstitutional and dangerous.

Let me lay out a few scenarios that this bill would enable: An international organization calls for a boycott of goods made through forced Uyghur labor in China. An American citizen, concerned about the ongoing Uyghur genocide vocally expresses support for this boycott and participates in it.

Under this bill, a President could decide that China is a ``friend to the United States'' and penalize one of our own fellow citizens with a $1 million fine and 20 years in prison.

Under this bill, an American citizen who participates in a European Union boycott of goods made in Russian-occupied Ukraine could be jailed for 20 years under an American President who was friendly to the invasion.

There are no safeguards under this law. The President has the complete power to decide when a country is covered by this law. That, I cannot support.

If an American chooses to participate in such a boycott, it should be their decision and theirs alone, not the United States Government's.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation.